Author: Steven Sahiounie

Former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers has said that Brexit will be remembered as a “historic economic blunder” that hurt the UK economy and helped drive up inflation. Pointing to Brexit as a factor for the rising costs, Summers also criticized the UK’s economic policy as having been “flawed for many years”. He pointed out that “Brexit reduced the competitiveness of the British economy, imposed downward pressure on the pound sterling and upward pressure on prices, limited imports of goods, and limited the supply of employment,” considering that “all of this contributed to the rise in inflation.” Summers blamed the…

Deposit losses topped $470 billion in the first quarter of 2023, according to the FDIC Banks in the US saw total deposits decline by a record 2.5% in the first quarter of the year, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) reported on Wednesday. The outflow was the largest recorded by the FDIC since it started collecting such data in 1984. According to the report, US banks lost $472 billion in deposits during the January-March period, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of industry outflows. The decline was primarily from uninsured funds, the FDIC said, noting that insured deposits actually increased by…

Oil prices rose, in morning trading today, Thursday, after a decline recorded in the previous session, as it ended trading at its lowest level in 3 weeks. By 08:14 Moscow time, Brent crude futures rose 0.5% to $72.96 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 0.43% to $68.38 a barrel. Yesterday, US crude futures fell by 2% to $68.09 a barrel, the lowest level in more than two months, while Brent contracts fell by 1.15% to $72.66 a barrel, the lowest closing level in more than three weeks. Contracts fell on Wednesday after negative Chinese data, and…

The Arab Contractors and Pharco International of Egypt won a contract to establish a pharmaceutical factory in Saudi Arabia, worth 155 million riyals, on an area of ​​20,000 square meters. Ahmed Al-Assar, President of the Arab Contractors Company, and Sherine Helmy, President of the Pharco International Pharmaceutical Company, signed a contract for the establishment of a pharmaceutical factory in the industrial zone of Medina in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which the Arab Contractors won a bid for its implementation at a value of 155 million Saudi riyals, amid competition with four major companies. The factory is built on an…

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock claimed that the doors of the US-led military bloc still remain open Ukraine cannot join NATO while it remains locked in a conflict with Russia, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has said. Last month, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also expressed skepticism about Kiev’s admission into the US-led military bloc. Speaking ahead of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Norwegian capital Oslo on Thursday, Baerbock claimed that the bloc’s doors remain open for potential new members. This applies to Sweden in particular, but also to Ukraine, she said. “At the same time, it is clear that…

Data showed that the Russian industrial sector grew last May for the thirteenth month in a row, as employment grew at the fastest pace in the past twenty years. And a trade survey reported that activity in Russia’s manufacturing sector rose despite shrinking export orders, according to Reuters. The Standard & Poor’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for manufacturing rose to 53.5 in May 2023 from 52.6 in April 2023, moving above the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction. A PMI value above 50 points indicates an increase in business activity, and below this level it indicates a slowdown. And…

The Palestinian Resistance in Tulkarm successfully confronted Israeli Occupation Forces raiding the city. The Al-Quds Brigades announced that its fighters targeted Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) raiding Tulkarm city in Palestine’s occupied West Bank with explosives as they also opened fire on Palestinians. Local Palestinian media reported that confrontations erupted when the IOF first stormed the town of Anabta, east of Tulkarm, on Thursday morning. As part of the confrontational strategy of the residents of Tulkarm, tires were set on fire in the middle of the road, preventing the advancement of occupation vehicles into the city’s neighborhoods. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claims responsibility for ‘Hermesh’…

The Sudanese Doctors’ Union says 17 people were killed and 106 others were wounded in a violent shelling in Khartoum following a breakdown in talks to extend the ceasefire. Some 17 people were killed and 106 others were injured on Wednesday following violent shelling that took place just south of the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, according to a statement by the Sudanese Doctors’ Union. The non-governmental medical body said in a statement that the area in question witnessed violent, bloody shelling, which killed 17 and injured 106 others, 36 of whom are in need of operations. The union also noted…

A group of experts from the International Monetary Fund issued, after their visit to the Jordanian capital, Amman, last week, an analytical paper on the economic situation in Iraq. The Fund published on its website an article stating: “A team of International Monetary Fund experts, led by Tokhir Mirzoev, visited Amman, Jordan, during the period 24-31 May, with the aim of discussing the latest developments and economic prospects with the Iraqi authorities, as well as discussing policy plans in the coming period. He added, “The growth momentum of the Iraqi economy has slowed down in recent months. After oil production…

Former Vice President Mike Pence will launch the 2024 presidential candidacy campaign on June 7 to join the presidential nomination race against former US President Donald Trump. With a campaign video and a kickoff speech in Des Moines, Iowa, former US Vice President Mike Pence is set to announce his presidential candidacy campaign on June 7. Pence, who has served under former US President Donald Trump, is set to join the presidential race for the Republicans at a time when Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are also running for the upcoming Presidential nomination. Pence will begin his campaign in…